Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite - 78
‘I’m pregnant.’ ‘Oh.’ ‘Oh?’ Monife had asked for this meeting. They were at the boat club. A few months had gone by since they had started their affair; and a week had passed since she peed on a stick and watched two red lines reveal themselves. She hadn’t told anyone else. She wasn’t sure her mum a...
‘I’m pregnant.’
‘Oh.’
‘Oh?’
Monife had asked for this meeting. They were at the boat club. A few months had gone by since they had started their affair; and a week had passed since she peed on a stick and watched two red lines reveal themselves. She hadn’t told anyone else. She wasn’t sure her mum and aunty could cope with the idea of two unwed pregnant girls in the house. Golden Boy would be the first to know. She had no idea how he would react. She hoped with every inch of her being that he’d be happy.
‘I mean, I … I want to know how you feel. Do you want to keep it?’ He was leaning away from her, and one of his feet was tap-taptapping. He avoided her intense gaze
Kalu was crumbling in her eyes. The idea she had of him was falling away. Golden Boy would have rejoiced. He would have been ecstatic. A child that was half of her and half of him. He would tell her that he was coming home to her. He would leave his wife and—
‘I wouldn’t have thought there was any question about me keeping our baby. Is there a question?’
‘I’m sorry, Mo. It’s just a lot. Amara’s pregnant. I—’
‘Amara is pregnant,’ Mo repeated in a low voice. She felt dizzy. They were still having sex. What a fool she was.
‘Yes.’
‘There must be something in the air.’
‘What?’
‘Ebun is also pregnant. You wouldn’t happen to be her baby daddy too?’
‘That’s not funny.’
‘It wasn’t a joke. You’re clearly quite virile.’
‘I am married to her, Mo. I couldn’t just ice her out without raising suspicion. And I didn’t want to hurt her.’
‘How honourable.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’m sick of your apologies.’
‘What do you want from me? I didn’t plan any of this.’
‘And I did?’
‘You could have … you could have taken birth control.’
‘Are you accusing me of something? Where was your freaking condom?’
He glanced around; a few of the other tables were beginning to look over. He lowered his voice. ‘If you had asked me to use a condom, I would have. I assumed you used backup.’ She scoffed at him. ‘Look, if you want to keep the baby, I’ll stand by you.’
She laughed, but there was no humour there. For the first time since she’d known him, he had said something she didn’t believe. She turned away so he wouldn’t see her tears. She spotted a woman leaning across the rail looking out at the water. There was something familiar about her. She had long, thick hair braided down her back and she was wearing an oversized yellow T-shirt. Her dark skin shimmered in the light.
‘Mo?’ She heard him, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from the woman in the shirt. There was a strange feeling in her stomach and a sense of déjà vu. ‘What are you looking at?’
‘That woman by the water.’
‘What woman?’
She looked at him, and then back to the lady in yellow, but she’d gone.